Ten guilty pleasures

Sometimes I just need a little time out to indulge myself if I'm feeling tired or run down.  I tried to think of ten things that really float my boat.  (not in any particular order)

1. Chocolate cake from Del Taco. 
2. Honey smoked salmon from Costco
3. Cheesecake
4. Chocolate Cheesecake
5. White chocolate macadamia nut cookies (Otis Spunkmeyer cookies are to die for)
6. A hot soak in a tub with lavender bath salts
7. Angry birds on my iPod
8. Sitting on the porch swing on a nice day with a breeze
9. A twenty minute nap
10. Walking around holding hands with my sweetie.

It appears that I like to eat.  I like chocolate.  Gooey chocolate.  If I had to choose between a brownie and a french fry, I would take the brownie in a heartbeat.  Salty is good, but chocolate is, well, divine.

:D

Bunny fishing

When my three youngest girls were about four and five (the youngest two are twins) we lived in a house that had a balcony that overlooked an undeveloped desert landscape. We had horny toads and jack rabbits all over the place.

One of my favorite memories of that house was watching them entertain themselves by tying a carrot to a string and holding it over the balcony in hopes that they could feed a bunny. They never did get one to take a nibble but that didn't discourage them. They'd be out there day after day waiting for a bunny to eat their carrot.

I just love the thought process of a child.  In their mind anything is possible, and why not?  If we could all have that kind of imagination and excitement as we get older, think of the things we could accomplish. I'm always trying to quiet the voices in my head that tell me something isn't worth my time, that I'm not good enough or that there's no point in trying something new.

I'm really trying (the key word here is trying...) to step outside the box and be willing to try new things without fear of failure. Not trying because you're afraid is worse than trying and failing. Messing up just gives you an opportunity to try again. Here's to bunny fishing.

*bling*

My wedding ring needs repairs, again.  I love my ring.  Its the one Gary bought for me before we were married.  But its needed repairs so many times, and now the prongs on the smaller stones are snagging things and I'm afraid I'm going to lose one of the diamonds.

Years ago when it needed repairs but we couldn't afford it, I went down to Walmart and got myself a gold band to wear so my finger didn't feel naked.

These days I'm in the mood for a little more pizzazz.  So Gary told me I could go out and find one I liked that we could afford.  I went to the jewelry store in the mall and found the perfect ring.

I've always wanted white gold or platinum, and this has just the right amount of bling for me.  I wish the photo looked better.  Please ignore my fingernails.  These are working hands - they're not for show.

I took it home to show Gary my new toy and he asked how much it cost.  "Seven dollars."  He exclaimed, "SEVEN DOLLARS???"  I said, "I'm sorry, did I spend too much?"  He gave me a big hug and said he loved it.  

I love him.  And I love Claire's.

Being in charge

This job at The Alterations Shop has been the coolest thing since peanut butter.  And along the way I'm learning all sorts of things about dealing with customers and being the one in charge.

Today I had a bride come in with her somewhat overbearing mother.  This girl needed straps for a sleeveless wedding gown so I proceeded to fit her with a muslin strap so we could determine where the finished satin strap should sit and how wide it ought to be.  I asked her how she liked this, and how she liked that, and then the mother stepped in and completely took over.  okaaaaaaaaaaay.  She positioned the straps here and there, and not being in a mood to pick a fight and take over again, I let her do her thing.

Then the girl wanted the front of her neckline to be a little "pinched" or pleated so it would scoop down an inch or so.  I tried a few things but she wasn't happy.  The mother was trying to stay polite but I could tell she wasn't very pleased with how things were going.

We finally got it somewhat resolved, but on the way home I thought about the experience.  I was not happy.  I felt so out of sorts and embarrassed with how the fitting went.  Then it dawned on me.  I wasn't the one in charge.  I am very confident in my skills but sometimes I think I'm too "nice" and I don't come across very professionally when I get like that.  I realized that that mother probably would have been happier if I had just taken the time to exude a little more authority and strength.

Or maybe it's just her.  You can't please everyone.  I like my job and I'm good at it.
Thanks for letting me rant.

:D

Now I know

We recently returned from a cruise to the Caribbean and by the way, had a wonderful time.  There's nothing quite so relaxing and peaceful as being waited on hand and foot with no responsibilities or cares for ten days.

We ate at one of the restaurants quite often and got a kick out of some of the waiters there.  One was from the Philippines and was so cute.  I asked him how to pronounce a certain dish as I pointed to it on the menu - Grilled Beef Bruschetta.  I was pretty sure I knew how to pronounce Bruschetta, but asked just to be certain.  His reply, "Grilled Beef".  Oh okay.  Thanks.  =D

Groundhog Wellington

I absolutely love Groundhog Day.  It's right up there with Halloween.  For the past seven years we've been celebrating the day by cooking groundhog, eating heavenly sticky buns and stuffing angel food cake into our faces while watching the movie with Bill Murray.

I try to make each year unique when it comes to dinner but my ideas are getting stale.  I went through our photos and found that this year wasn't so original after all.  Next year will have to be monumental.

2005 was our first.  I made chicken drumsticks wrapped in bread dough.  Mother and babies have cloves for eyes, toothpicks for whiskers and olives for noses.  Yum!

2006 was a little more creative.  Our meatloaf wrapped in bread dough was stuffed with spaghetti (Gary's idea) so when it was cut open, it would look like, well, you know.  

Notice the red spots on back - that's where the "buckshot" landed.

I guess I really like to cover meatloaf with breading.  2007 was actually pie dough this time.  Its easier to form and mold into shapes.  The claws were fun.  I think he looks more like a mole than a groundhog.

Okay, so this was different.  This is two turkey breasts tethered together and stuffed.  Maybe a groundhog would look this this if it was skinned and roasted...

(2008) 

I went looking for our 2009 photos.  Apparently I don't have photos for this year.  Bummer - what was I thinking?  This was Chicken Cordon Bleu from Costco.  But the fun part was making the Spam claws that were attached for feet.  

Chris was at the Missionary Training Center in Provo prepping for Romania.  We wanted to make sure he would get some groundhog, so I made something shippable for him.  I made an Apple Ladder Loaf and shaped it like a groundhog so he and his mission companions could share in the festivities.  It turned out really well, but it gave them all gas.  Sorry Chris! 

The following year (2010) we made groundhog pizza.  

And fruit pizza for dessert

2011 was very predictable.  Yes, it was wrapped groundhog.  Yummy meatloaf though.

So now the challenge is on.  Next year has got to be completely original.  I've got eleven months for a new recipe.  

Happy Groundhog Day!

My house is clean!

We're selling our house.  The kids are gone, the place is too big and I've never enjoyed vacuuming stairs.  So today, our real estate agent was here taking photographs for the listing.  I've spent the last two days cleaning, polishing and hiding things so the place will look nice for the pictures.  Our house hasn't looked this good since before we moved in.

About six years ago I finished a Winnie the Pooh puzzle and was going to frame it because, well, I worked so hard on it and I love Pooh.  But two pieces had fallen out of the finished puzzle and I couldn't find them anywhere.  I decided to "make" some new puzzle pieces out of cardboard and colored markers.  They didn't look too bad as long as you didn't examine them too closely.  Guess what I found yesterday while cleaning out my closet?  Two puzzle pieces and a giant dust bunny.  Yuck to the dust bunny.  Its amazing how much dust and junk can accumulate behind things you keep, not because you'll ever use them again, but because someday they might be useful.

So I'm making some hard choices now as I de-junk my house.  We've amassed a lot of stuff over twenty eight years and six children.  I've decided I don't really need to keep the expired polysporin and the half-burned candles in my closet,  but I do need to keep all the Mother's Day cards the kids have made me over the years.  I do know what my priorities are.

My name is Anne

You have no idea how long it took me to feel comfortable being called Anne. I blame my parents. (Insert huge smiley face here). They named me Anne but called me Marcie. To be fair, my middle name is Marcel. After having gone by Marcie for years and then to be called Anne in seventh grade by my teachers was sooo frustrating.  Being an immature 12 year old, I bordered on antagonistic with them.  Rather than just say "here" I would glare at them. There was an issue of pride at stake. I'm not Anne, I'm Marcie.

The government knows me as Anne. So does the hospital and the LDS church. But up until last year my driver's license and all my credit cards said Marcie. Since my driver's license didn't match the county records, I couldn't vote at the primary election.  New security rules and all.  I jumped through a lot of hoops to change everything so I was "legal".  So guess what happened at the November election?  My driver's license finally said Anne, but the records there now said Marcie   ???   I put up a big stink and they let me vote anyway.

The point I'm making is that I have finally reached my happy place.  Its taken me almost 50 years but I'm happy that I'm an Anne.  I still go by Marcie, but if you call me Anne, I'll answer you with a smile.

Video games

Video games are fun to watch, but I don't really enjoy playing them.  I do remember playing Mortal Kombat on the NES many, many years ago, but my strategy back then was to randomly hit buttons and hope that I could hit something in the process.  I was able to knock out all of my children in Wii boxing though.  But I sure was sore the next day.

Gary, my husband, is an avid gamer.  He likes the sandbox games like Just Cause.  I call it Just 'Cuz.  That name seems to make more sense to me because that game is fun to watch, but it doesn't follow any of the laws of physics.  You can fire a grappling hook to the top of a jet airliner as its taxi-ing down a runway, climb on the back of it and surf the air while doing 600 mph.  Then jump off and free-fall without dying, because you can grapple the ground as you approach it and pull yourself to safety.

He also played Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts for the XBox.  It was all fun and games watching him until he asked me - ME - to beat a level.  COME ON!  I really did try.  But that stupid cart that Banjo was driving wouldn't go where I was trying to get it to go.  The frustration that built up was too much for me.  Ask me to pull weeds in Animal Crossing and I'm there for you.  But I do have a threshold.

I'm not coordinated enough to figure out all the buttons on the controller.  And the PC games using a keyboard are even worse.  A few years ago, our family was really into playing Left 4 Dead, while networking as many computers as possible.  This is a zombie apocalypse game where you can either choose to be one of four humans trying to survive, or one of the many zombies trying to kill the humans.  The kids convinced me to join in and play with them for a bit.  Mind you, they've been playing this for a while and are VERY good at it.  I'm an extreme n00b.  So I'm a human and most of them are zombies.  After five minutes of trying to get through a doorway (I forgot to look "down" and see the desk in front of me) while my children as zombies are mercilessly killing me, I end up in tears.  At least I can say I tried.

My idea of a relaxing game is Peggle or Angry Birds on my iPod Touch.  These feed my OCD so well.  I'm currently working on getting 3 stars on an entire Angry Birds level so I can get my golden egg.  And Peggle has added a red ribbon level.  If I can get 300,000 points on each level I get a trophy.  A trophy that isn't real. (But is...)

The family that plays together stays together.  Its been fun watching our family game-playing evolve over the years.  There were a few that I enjoyed playing with the family, like Mario Kart.

I used to drive the kids crazy because I would always pronounce it "Merrie-o".  "Mooooommmmm!  Its Mah-ree-oh"  Whatever.  There were a few times that I would win but I still suspect they were letting me win.

Game playing has invaded our culture to such an extent that it influences conversations.  For instance, I was checking in on Facebook last night to see what my kids are doing and came across this status from Alison and the following conversations from friends and family:

• 
  
  

  • Alison

    status about college and how hard it is, wait for crapload of people to like it.  Haha kidding, I haven't started college yet.
  • • Chris

      Comment agreeing with your initial status, without adding anything constructive to the discussion. Bland and depressing statement about my own college situation, in hopes of getting sympathy and figurative pats on the back.
    • Beau

      Over played and over planned joke about chicks and college followed by an unnecessary string of exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Alison 

      Too many voooweeeeels agreeeeeing laughing out loud rolling on the flooooor.
    • Kellen

      reading comments with a straight face but lolling hard on the inside
    • Chris

      Expressing my uproarious laughter, even though I'm only lightly smirking at all the comments.
    • Alison

      placing comment complaining that the conversation is no longer about me, but with a lighthearted undertone in an attempt to draw away attention from the fact, that I do indeed love attention.
    • Chris ‎
      *pays attention to Alison*
    • Alison 

      ‎*basks in the attention*
    • Chris 

      ‎*puts on rocket shoes and flies to France*
    • Alison 

      ‎*collects sonic the hedgehog power sneakers and follows closely behind*
    • Kellen

      ‎*Kellen casts Rapt Attention*, its extremely affective!
    • Alison

      *Alison absorbs Rapt Attention! HP boosted!"
    • Chris

      ‎*Chris uses headbutt* Chris misses!!
    • Kellen

      ‎*Kellen uses Butt Stomp, but hurts himself in the confusion!*
    • Chris 

      *Chris uses gnaw* He grows closer to Kellen than he could ever have dreamed!
    • Marcie 

      Mother is greatly impressed with the nerdiness of her offspring.
    • Chris 

      ‎*Chris uses Thank* Aww thanks Mom! :D
    • Alison

      Thaaaanks momma:D
    • Anne

      *Anne tries to fit in but fails horribly.*
    • Chris

      Boy Anne, you sure liked the crap out of this status. Haha
    • Alison 

      Hahahaha
    • Stephanie 

      ‎*Stephanie appears out of nowhere.* I had a dream that you had a baby, Alison. And then me and katie ended up in the middle of a snow field fighting off wolves. *Stephanie runs away now.*
    • Alison 

      ‎*Alison is flabbergasted! Steph earns ten points*
    • Stephanie 

      *Steph is already gone. Fail on Alison.*
    • Alison

      ‎*Alison's HP runs out*
    • Stephanie

      ‎*Death to Alison. Stephanie returns and gains two "Alison Brain".*
    • Alison

      ‎...*stephanie rises to level of 'creep'!*
    • Stephanie

      *Steph is bored now. Steph Leaves.*
    • Erica 

      Erica is extremely proud of her siblings, although saddened that she missed this conversation by being boring and asleep... FETUS!!

  
  
  I love my nerdy family!  <3

• 
  

Scarves

I'm on a quest.  For scarves.  I recently had thyroid surgery and am not comfortable with the idea of being out there with my battle wound just yet.  My daughter let me borrow one of hers (thanks, Anne!) and I've found a few at Walmart but they're not great.  I'm looking for colorful, lightweight and inexpensive.

I'm not extremely fashion oriented, so this is a challenge for me.  My idea of dressing up is to wear a newly washed pair of my favorite jeans and a sweater.  A friend of mine always looks very nice - I noticed her shoes.  I don't know why I look at people's shoes.  I've always been jealous of women with average feet.  You know the ones that wear size 7 and can find racks and racks of shoes in their size.  Me, I'm an 11.  Maybe a 10 1/2 on a good day with my toenails clipped short.  Payless Shoes doesn't like me.  Shoe Carnival is much better.  At Payless all the cute styles stop at 10.  Oh sure, I can find some of the same styles in an 11, but I don't want three inch heels!  And seriously, some of those size 11 and 12 shoes are actually three and four inches high.  Who makes these shoes?  Don't they know that most women who wear big shoes are generally taller than most?  I'm 5'10" and I'm not thrilled about walking around being 6'1".  If my husband was 6'3" I might, but he's 5'11".

Anyway, about my friend's shoes...I asked her how she kept them so neat and polished.  She just shrugged.  I said, "I'll bet you don't garden in them."  I do.  And then I wonder why they look the way they do.  I have a hard time finding shoes that are comfortable so when I do, I live in them.

Wait, this post is about scarves!  What am I doing?  Where was I?  Oh yeah, fashion.  So I went looking around for scarf ideas and came across this youtube video showing how to tie scarves.

This really helps.  But finding scarves that I like is hard because I'm cheap.  So I had this brilliant idea to go to the fabric store and make some.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Tomorrow is New Years Eve.  Maybe there will be a great sale.  And I have a coupon.  Yessssss.

Eggnog cake...mmmm.

Gary and I were walking the aisles of Costco and wandered past this beautiful eggnog cake. "No, we can't." "It's too much money and too fattening." "But, it's Christmas after all." "And we could use it as a comparison for my eggnog bread..." "That's right - let's consider it research!"

Well we've researched the heck out of it.  The eggnog cake is almost gone and now I know what I want my bread to taste like. Only problem is, I'm making bread and this is cake. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

So I went ahead and made another batch of eggnog bread but this time I completely left out the baking soda.  I used only 3 cups of flour, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. And yes, it was really nutmeg. And yes, I remembered the butter.

I think it turned out pretty well. The flavor isn't as strong as the cake and the texture is more like a muffin. So for those of you who might taste it, feel free to take this quiz:

A. I'd crawl a mile for another bite
B. It was pretty good
C. Um, thanks?
D. Don't ever try a stunt like that again!

Merry Christmas!

:-)

Eggnog Bread Experiment #2

So I tried the eggnog bread again.  This time, I used 1/2 cup of melted low fat spread, which I know isn't great for baking, but hey, its all I had.  You know me, I like to improvise.  I also increased the nutmeg to 2 teaspoons.

It was more moist, probably not as much if I had used butter or oil, but it wasn't dry.  It had an interesting flavor.  I took a piece up to my husband and asked him what he thought.  He said it was a little salty but he wanted another piece.  That's a good sign I guess.

I gave my daughter, Erica, a piece and she wanted to know what new spice I used.  Just a little more nutmeg...

She said, "Well, something is different.  Let me smell the nutmeg".

We went to the spice cabinet and pulled out the "nutmeg".  Oh crap.  Cumin looks a lot like nutmeg if you think you have the right spice bottle.  No wonder it tastes different.  Not bad, its actually pretty good, but it doesn't taste like eggnog.

Several years ago I was making zucchini bread and reached for the oil.  Did you know that back then, the pine sol bottle was the same shape and color as vegetable oil?  Well, I do now.  I realized what was happening as I was pouring the pine sol into the batter.  I gasped in horror, grabbed both bottles and stared at them for what seemed like an eternity and then threw out the pine-scented batter.

You think I'd learn!  I'm having my thyroid removed and will be out of commission for a while so attempt number three will be hopefully next week.  I want to get this right before Christmas is over!

Eggnog Bread

I don't know about you but I love eggnog.  Its probably a good thing its only sold during the holidays, otherwise it would be a staple in my fridge.  I've had really good eggnog bread, but finding a good recipe is tricky.  And I'm a hostage to food.com.  When the Internet goes down like it did today, and all my favorite recipes are online, I'm lost.  Here's to writing them down and keeping a copy somewhere.

So I went to my Joy of Cooking cookbook that I've had since time began and searched for a recipe.  Nothing for eggnog.  I can improvise.  I found a poppy seed bread recipe.  That's sort of close.  It wants me to use the Irish American Soda Bread recipe, but use a little more buttermilk and sugar.  I can use eggnog instead of buttermilk...

3 1/3 cup flour
1/2 c sugar (instead of 1/4 cup)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg (instead of the caraway seeds)
1 cup chopped candied cherries (instead of the raisins)

Blend the dry ingredients and in a separate bowl whisk together:
2 large eggs
2 cups eggnog (instead of the buttermilk)
1 teaspoon rum extract (because I wanted to)
1/2 cup melted butter (Crap!  I left out the butter.  No wonder its a little dry.  I'll bet its awesome with butter)

Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Spoon into greased pans - either 2 loaf pans or 5 small foil pans (the kind you use to give as Christmas gifts) and bake 30-40 minutes.  The small pans took 30 minutes.

They're really good!  Except for the fact that there isn't any butter..........................grrr.

I would add a little more sugar next time.  I think I'd like the loafs a little sweeter.

I'm excited to make more treats for Christmas.  I've got an Apple Ladder Loaf from Taste of Home thats wonderful.  And I'll try cinnamon rolls from thepioneerwoman.com.  My friend Rebecca Taylor gave it to me and I'm dying to try it.